Spirit Guides and the Spirit Ceremony - Plateau Indians in Olden Times

For Kids

A very important
ceremony was the spirit ceremony.The people of the Plateau believed everyone had a spirit
guide.Your spirit
guide was your special guide to health, safety, success, and
happiness. But spirit guides did not simply show up one day.
Kids had to find them, in a sense. They had to have a vision,
where they actually saw their spirit guide. Guides usually
appeared in the form of an animal, or the ghost of an animal.

Around age 9, kids began the
process of finding their individual spirit guide.Kids seeking a vision would talk to the tribal medicine man, the Shaman.
Some tribes had the Shaman give them something special to drink. Some tribes
dunked the kids in icy cold water. Some believed a steam bath would help them
have a vision. Some kids were sent into the mountains to spend a day or two
without food or water in the hopes that a vision would come to them.The technique varied, but the goal was the same for most of the tribes on
the Plateau – to find your spirit guide.

The belief in spirit guides was
very strong. Sooner or later, everyone saw their spirit guide. It gave the
people of the Plateau great comfort and courage to know a magical being was on
their side, looking out for them personally. In
the culture of the people of the Plateau, everyone had a job – spirit guides
were no exception. Their job was to care for and caution when needed their
person to keep them safe from harm. Spirit
guides were not with you every moment of every day. They were guides. You could
ignore their advice and direction, just as you could ignore the direction of a
hunt leader – but it might get you killed if you did.